As you have probably heard by now, Jim Kay has been commissioned to give the Harry Potter books “a full colour makeover in a complete set of new editions.” The team that decided who would do this included J. K. Rowling, and Jim Kay is the brilliant genius who illustrated A Monster Calls. Below is his rendering of Hogwarts.
Look, I know. How cool is that tunnel-staircase-pathway-thing that terminates in a creature mouth?
My question now for the illustrated Harry Potter people is, What does full color mean exactly? I am so excited by the idea that it might mean a whole bunch of color plates that my heart speeds up when I think about it. England, would you be so kind as to announce this news again? This time with details? GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT, ENGLAND. The people want to know are there color plates and if so how many. The people want to know this urgently. The people feel like if there are, say, between six and ten color plates in each book, they will probably buy copies of them all, even though they have copies of the Harry Potter books with which they are perfectly satisfied. By the way, the people are not trying to tell England its business but do feel that there should be a silhouettey sort of picture of Neville just having done what the people shall here call Neville’s heroic hat trick in an effort to avoid spoilers while also conveying the necessary information to their readers.
(The people also hope that the bindings are sturdy because the people’s original copies of the Harry Potter books have not proved as hardy as the people had hoped when they bought them over the years. But the people do not want to draw England’s attention away from the main question about the color plates. The people hope England understands that the color plates are the question of true importance here.)
Edit to add: My question has been answered. It does mean “a whole bunch of color plates,” as well as small subsidiary illustrations adorning the book margins, and it also apparently means a gorgeous fold-out illustration of Diagon Alley. YAY.